Raising C-Section Room Temperature for preemie births

Irishobrn · Feb 22, 2011

The NICU has our temp raised to 70 degrees in the OR for all births. I understand why they want the temp up but it can cause other problems. It's warm in there and the docs and scrub tech are all garbed up in the waterproof gowns which get hot. So they find themselves sweating, and dripping. So we have to keep wiping them off so they don't sweat into the patient! We have been trying to work with NICU to lower the temp to 68 to see if that helps and then of course there are people who just lower it on their own at times...not cool either. But I would be interested in seeing any studies that don't support raising the temp so we could convince them to make it cooler in there.

nicu1991 · Feb 22, 2011

the nicu has our temp raised to 70 degrees in the or for all births. i understand why they want the temp up but it can cause other problems. it's warm in there and the docs and scrub tech are all garbed up in the waterproof gowns which get hot. so they find themselves sweating, and dripping. so we have to keep wiping them off so they don't sweat into the patient! we have been trying to work with nicu to lower the temp to 68 to see if that helps and then of course there are people who just lower it on their own at times...not cool either. but i would be interested in seeing any studies that don't support raising the temp so we could convince them to make it cooler in there.

i thank you for your response! it is great to get all perspectives. i'm afraid i do not have a study that does not support raising the temp. however, i can share the rationale for the premature baby perspective. i will copy the name of the article you might find some good rationale for your practice, including a table for suggested room temps. following that, i will post a few other pieces of info from the data that is extremely interesting from a nicu perspective related to morbidity and mortality based on premature babies admit temperatures.

journal of perinatology (2007) 27, s45–s47. doi:10.1038/sj.jp.7211842

transitional hypothermia in preterm newborns

d r bhatt1, r white2, g martin3, l j van marter4, n finer5, j p goldsmith6, c ramos7, s kukreja8 and r ramanathan7

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nedrelow did a study in 2007 that found for each 1 degree c decrease in admission temperatures that fell below 36 degrees for babies 24-29 wks, chances of survival were decreased by 10%, so a decrease in 2 degrees would increase mortality by 20% and so on. amazing.

laptook, in 2007, did a study that found in looking at gestational age, to paraphrase, the lower gestational ages, for each 1 degree centigrade decrease in admission temperature, late-onset sepsis is increased by 11% & odds of death are increased by 28%. interesting.

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it is uncomfortable to sweat for the deliveries for this time period. considering you may have an impact on the future course of that babies outcome, your efforts are greatly appreciated :heartbeat the fact that your or temp is raised for all deliveries tells that your institution is looking out to prevent cold stress on all the babies :yeah: great job!

Nurse2bNicole, BSN, RN · Mar 1, 2011

I work at a hospital in Detroit, and we changed our policy to increase OR temps above 70 degrees for all c-section deliveries, not just preemies. Our ORs are warm....usually around 72 degrees, which isn't horrible for the premature deliveries because we can lower the temp once the baby is taken to the NICU, but everyone is quite toasty if it's a term baby. We have been doing this for over a year (maybe two, can't remember) and have noticed a significant difference. The term babies can come off the warmer faster during recovery, less issues with low blood sugars, etc... I know there have also been improvements with the babies in NICU. Yes, it's uncomfortable. But you do get used to it and it does produce positive results.

nicu1991 · Mar 2, 2011

I work at a hospital in Detroit, and we changed our policy to increase OR temps above 70 degrees for all c-section deliveries, not just preemies. Our ORs are warm....usually around 72 degrees, which isn't horrible for the premature deliveries because we can lower the temp once the baby is taken to the NICU, but everyone is quite toasty if it's a term baby. We have been doing this for over a year (maybe two, can't remember) and have noticed a significant difference. The term babies can come off the warmer faster during recovery, less issues with low blood sugars, etc... I know there have also been improvements with the babies in NICU. Yes, it's uncomfortable. But you do get used to it and it does produce positive results.

:yeah:Thank you SO much for answering my question. This is what I was after. I sincerely appreciate your feedback. :up:

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you :heartbeat

Hushi05 · Mar 4, 2011

Why is this an issue? Aren't the babies immediately resuscitated under a warmer and then taken to NICU? We have also raised the temps in our ORs to be in compliance with WHO guidelines, but it's more for the sake of our mothers who tend to be very cold coming out of the OR.